The Beginning of the End
by Voracious Reader
Summary: English project on... well, you can guess. R&R, please.


Matt Eisenberg  
  
April 17, 2002  
  
Period 6  
  
Ms. Griffith  
  
The Giver sat in a chair in his room, staring into space. It had been an interesting few weeks. His thoughts strayed back to the first day this had all started…  
  
Jonas' family had consulted him on Jonas' disappearance the night before. He had assayed their fears and told them to talk to the Chief Elder. He had been confused. Why had Jonas left then? The plan was supposed to start in two weeks. His questions were answered when Jonas' mother let slip the fact that the One staying with them was gone, too. When he asked questions about the One, the father said that he was due to be released today.  
  
As if that was not bad enough, the girl, Lily, had told him that she had seen something strange on the way to the Annex. Judging from her description, she had seen a flash of color. The Giver had calmed her down and had sent her on her way. Now, the only thing that The Giver could do was to wait and see what would happen, with only his memories for guidance.  
  
The memories had really begun to return about a week later. People who had forgotten to take their daily pill reported feeling strange. There were five cases of seeing color for a few moments. The search planes kept returning empty-handed, so they were called off. The first memory came to a female Six who had apparently fainted during Science and Technology class. When out, she thrashed around and mumbled under her breath. Coming to, she took one look at the ceiling and immediately started to wail. It was the memory of spraining an ankle.  
  
The memories began to come in force, then. More and more people got memories and started to change. People who had already received memories began to gain them more and more frequently. Their faces were always tight, as if they were trying to suppress laughing or shouting. The Giver decided to tell the Community what was happening. That afternoon, he came on the Speaker system. People everywhere stopped what they were doing and stared in amazement at the speakers as the Receiver rambled on.  
  
"Recent events in this Community have come to my attention. The first was the disappearance of the Receiver-in-training, Jonas. The second was the newfound ability of several citizens of this Community to see color. The third and last was the receiving of memories by citizens. This has led me to believe that Jonas, whose memories you are receiving, is either dead or sufficiently distanced from the community to have the memories released. Now, you will get a memory, more likely several memories. If you receive a particularly bad one, come to me for support."  
  
With the announcement to the community done, The Giver padded of to meet with the Council. He was the last one in. Closing the door behind him, he turned to face the assembled Council members before him. They had all received memories of varying degrees. Not a one of them was not fighting some internal battle to maintain a fixed expression of serenity. "I assume that you have called me here to discuss the recent problem and to find a solution," The Giver said. Heads nodded. "In that case, I propose that you do not drastically change anything."  
  
The room erupted with comments along the lines of "What do you mean?! The community is bad enough as it is!". The babble died down as the Chief Elder held up her hand to silence everyone.  
  
"Why do you say this?" she asked. "Doing nothing will not do anything positive. We need to help shield the community from this madness!"  
  
"That is exactly why I am not going to do anything," replied The Giver. "If, when I die, my memories come back, what will they do then? They need to accept this, their past, their heritage."  
  
"Accept this?! They are doing everything they possibly can to reject it! Nobody likes feeling like that!"  
  
"They cannot stop this. The memories will come, all of them. They will feel everything their ancestors did, and they will appreciate it. It will replace this grayness that you have given them. They will do it no matter what you do."  
  
"That cannot be! They always listen to us!"  
  
"No. The memories have changed them. They will rebel. In the old days, this was commonplace. Adolescents rebelled from their parents. Populations rebelled from bad leaders. It will happen. It will be bad at best. Do your best to make it that way. I bid you goodbye. Please consult with me when you have reached a decision." The Giver gave an about- face, and marched out, not looking back.  
  
For my The Giver ending, I chose to use the point of view of The Giver. There are many reasons why I chose to use The Giver to explain the events in the community after Jonas' disappearance.  
  
The first reason is that The Giver has the best idea of what is going on. He has experienced everything that the community is going through. He knows the best way to cope with emotional and physical pain associated with these memories. Lastly, The Giver has a very big role in the running of the Community once the memories come back. Since no one but him has ever felt this way, people are going to him for assistance. He must advise the Council on what to do with the memories returning to the people.  
  
Another reason why I selected The Giver for my character is that he is affected in different ways than the other characters in the community. If I chose, say, Asher, his experiences would be similar to Fiona's. The Giver has no equal in the community, so the story from his point of view would be drastically different.  
  
The last reason why I chose The Giver is because I admire the character. He has suffered most of his life with no one to talk to. He also has the enormous task of changing the community to be like the cities of the past. That enough is reason to admire him. 


End file.
